


No Game

by AHumanFemale, barbaXbenson, Eggums, Power-Bottom-Barba (Cap_Against_The_Clap), Robin Hood (kjack89), thesorceressfromthelake, tobeconspicuous



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: 5+1 Fic, Barisi from an outside perspective, M/M, barba is a terrible flirt, fin tutuola appreciation week, sonny is oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 01:38:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12948525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AHumanFemale/pseuds/AHumanFemale, https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbaXbenson/pseuds/barbaXbenson, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggums/pseuds/Eggums, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cap_Against_The_Clap/pseuds/Power-Bottom-Barba, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kjack89/pseuds/Robin%20Hood, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesorceressfromthelake/pseuds/thesorceressfromthelake, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobeconspicuous/pseuds/tobeconspicuous
Summary: Five times Fin has witnessed Rafael Barba failing at flirting… and one time he witnesses him succeed.Sort of.





	No Game

**Author's Note:**

> A group effort between seven idiots who love Barisi no matter what bullshit canon tries to pull off. 
> 
> Thanks for reading. 
> 
> xoxo, all of us.
> 
>  
> 
> p.s. - Bonus points to all those who can guess who wrote what section. Hint! One section was shared by two of the authors and all the rest were individuals. Have fun. ;)

**1.**

When Fin first met Carisi, he hadn’t been sure what to make of the new, overly-eager detective. With his ill-fitting suits and mustache that wouldn’t look out of place in a bad eighties porno — not that Fin would know anything about that — Carisi had managed to unintentionally rub the entire squad the wrong way. Fin noticed that Rollins and Amaro were particularly disenchanted with the new detective, not that he could blame them.

In fact, the only one who didn’t seem to be bothered from the get was ADA Rafael Barba.

From their very first meeting Barba appeared to be interested in the detective. Fin noticed the prosecutor checking out the younger man as Carisi practically skipped away, clearly ecstatic at having met the ADA with a reputation that preceded him. But it was Barba who was smiling, a small smirk gracing the prosecutor’s normally stern face.

Fin had caught the man’s gaze and had raised his brow, causing the smirk to fall and be replaced with Barba’s signature scowl. Fin couldn’t help but chuckle to himself before shaking his head and walking away.  

He had completely forgotten about the initial interaction between Barba and the man ten years his junior until one day a week or two later when Carisi entered the precinct, clean-shaven and wearing a well-fitted suit. Fin couldn’t help but laugh at the double take Barba did when he saw the newly-improved detective. Barba’s eyes widened and raked up and back down the length of the younger man’s body in a completely not-at-all obvious way.

Of course, the one person who didn’t pick up on it was Carisi himself.

Fin watched in quiet amusement as Barba, for the first time since Fin met him, lost the ability to speak. After a long moment, Barba shook himself out of his daze and approached the new detective. Fin leaned back in his chair, hoping the entertainment value would be worth the price of spying.

“Carisi,” Barba called out to the younger man.

Sonny stumbled over himself as he jerked himself around to face the attorney. “Counselor?”

“New suit?” Barba questioned.

Sonny practically beamed as he answered. “Yeah, my sister Teresa convinced me to spruce up my wardrobe.”

“You look good.” Barba’s face instantly flushed red, and Fin watched with secondhand embarrassment as he tripped over himself trying to walk it back. “I just mean, you should continue to dress more professionally. Detective.”

Fin winced as the color seemed to drain from Barba’s face and creep up the back of Carisi’s neck. Neither the young detective nor the prosecutor knew how to continue the conversation. As the silence between the two dragged from uncomfortable to awkward, Fin readied himself to interrupt.

Luckily, Carisi broke the silence. “Uh… thanks?”

That was enough to snap Barba back to his usual self. “This suit’s a start, Carisi.  If you ever need advice feel free to call me.”

With that Barba practically fled to Liv’s office and proceeded to close the door behind himself. Fin chuckled to himself and wondered if Liv was aware of Barba’s attraction to the newest addition to the team, but his amusement at the situation ended when Carisi’s familiar shadow fell across his desk.

“Is the counselor always like that?” Carisi’s question seemed genuine.

Fin paused for a moment before he answered. “Nah man, only with you.”

Carisi nodded before he returned to his own desk, a small frown on his face. The distraction over, Fin returned to his paperwork, only looking up to watch Barba cross the squad room, pointedly not looking at Carisi.

Fin shook his head with a smirk, having sudden flashbacks to embarrassing himself in front of a girl in middle school.

He couldn’t wait to see how Barba’s little crush progressed.

  


**2.**

 

Carisi’s phone chirped for the thirtieth time in half an hour and Fin was ready to throw the damn thing into traffic.

He huffed in irritation as Carisi glanced at the notification on his watch. “It’s Barba again—” he started, as an explanation or an apology and Fin gave him a look.

“I didn’t ask.”

“He won’t leave me alone!” Carisi continued, ignoring him, his eyes wide as he elaborated on all of the things that Barba had evidently been blowing up his phone with. “Do you know where this casefile is? Can you bring me this report? Will you grab me a coffee on the way over — I’ll pay you back and you should pick something up for yourself as well—”

The phone chirped again and Fin shut his eyes and counted to ten in his head before grinding out, “Then turn off the damn notifications, Carisi.”

Carisi wouldn’t.

Fin knew that.

Carisi grimaced but didn’t answer, instead unlocking his phone, making a few taps and putting it up to his ear. “Barba, hey...yeah, I already gave that to you. Yeah, I did. It’s stapled with the chain of custody documentation...you mean, where it’s always supposed to go?”

He rolled his eyes and gave an exaggerated sigh and Fin sat back in his chair, wondering how dense Carisi had to be to not understand why Barba was pestering him, and wondering how quickly Barba would convince Carisi to come over to his office so that Fin could actually get some work done.

“I can’t- no, I'm trying to work on that right now. … right. …. I guess?” Carisi noticed Fin glaring at him and gestured to the phone with a conspiratorial shrug, as if to say, _Can you believe this guy?_

Fin rolled his eyes.

“Yeah- alright, yeah.” Carisi stood up and, much to Fin’s relief, began packing up his laptop and folders. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” He paused. “Are you serious? It’s called a stepstool, Barba — I mean, why in the world would you even put the books so high up if you can’t reach them?”

Fin could hear the smile creeping into Carisi’s voice, poorly disguised by fond exasperation. “Yeah, I can pick you up a coffee — yeah, two creams, I know your order by now, Counselor—” Carisi paused. “Yeah, he’s here, lemme ask him.” He covered the mouthpiece of his phone and turned to Fin. “You finish your write-up for the Germaine Franklin case?”

Fin gestured toward the paperwork on his desk. “Does it look like I'm done?”

He tried not to sound as amused as he felt.

Carisi shrugged, turning his attention back to his phone, “Nah, he’s not done. … yeah, I'll just grab it later and get it to you. Yeah- okay. Alright, I'm on my way.” Carisi hung up the phone and dropped it onto his desk with a loud _thunk_.

He turned back to Fin and rolled his eyes again. “Can you believe him? He has a secretary, and somehow I’m the only one who can get him the files he needs or pick up his coffee.”

If Fin wasn’t mistaken, Carisi actually preened a little at the thought, apparently too pleased to be Barba’s trusted choice to realize that literally any intern could accomplish the same thing.

“Carisi, why don't you tell Barba ‘No’ and turn off your damn phone?” Fin asked, almost sweetly, just to see Carisi’s response.

Carisi stared at him. “I can’t turn off my phone,” he said blankly. “What if the lieutenant calls?”

Fin blinked. “Boy, you’re supposed to be smart. You’re standing 20 feet away from her office. Her door is open. We can see her.”

The two men glanced towards Olivia’s open door and saw her sitting behind her desk, her phone to her ear. She looked back, frowning, and covered the phone with her hand. “Something I can help you gentlemen with?”

“We're good, Liv,” Fin called back. He gestured towards her and smirked at the other detective.

Carisi shrugged, still looking a little baffled, as if the idea of not answering Barba’s calls or, heaven forbid, telling the other man no had never really crossed his mind. “I mean, I already said I’d head over.” His phone chirped once more and Carisi glanced down at the message, smiling slightly again even as he shook his head. “I gotta go or else he’ll ream my ass,” he said, grabbing his coat and heading out.

Fin snorted, picking up his pen to get back to work, grateful for the silence now that Carisi was leaving. “Yeah, I bet he would.”

 

**3.**

 

He was trying to focus on the security footage currently playing at double speed on his laptop, he really was, but much like passing motorists rubbernecking at a traffic accident, Fin couldn’t help but watch out of the corner of his eye as Barba perched on the corner of Carisi’s desk.

Barba thought he was being subtle, casually swinging by to chat with Carisi as he came and went from the precinct, ostensibly to pick up paperwork or to ask for clarification on a case, but ‘Rafael Barba’ and ‘casual’ did not belong in the same sentence and his true motivations stuck out to Fin like a neon sign.

Unfortunately for Barba, it seemed that Fin was the only one who noticed.

“Carisi, can I get the arrest report for Watkins? I need to go over it before the arraignment.”

Sonny barely spared Barba a glance before returning to his own section of security footage, a different camera angle from the one Fin was watching. “Oh, um, Fin actually typed that up. It was his collar.”

“Oh, really?” The surprise in his voice was so put upon that Fin was pretty sure even his deaf uncle Walter could hear it. But apparently Carisi could not.

“Yep, all Fin.” This time not even a glance was spared.

Fin sighed and hit the spacebar on his laptop, freezing the footage so he could dig through the stack of files on his desk. The sooner Barba got his arrest report the sooner this trainwreck would end.

“That’s interesting,” Barba said with a tilt of his head. “The way you took charge in the interrogation, I would have sworn you were the lead.”

Fin’s hands froze on the file, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was watching now. Barba was upping his game and he was impressed. Maybe Carisi would catch on and finally put the ADA, and Fin, out of their misery.

This time Carisi paused the video, leaning back in his chair to look at Barba. “Nah. Actually, Watkins already didn’t like me very much, so we figured if I played into it I could get him mad enough to slip up.”

Apparently today was not the day that this all came to a merciful end, Fin thought, fighting an eye roll and holding up the file. “Barba, I’ve got your report right here.”

It came as no surprise to him when the counselor didn’t even acknowledge that he’d spoken.

“Well, it worked,” he was saying to Carisi instead. “Good thinking, Detective.”

“Wasn’t hard.” Carisi shrugged, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips. “You of all people know how easy it is for me to get on someone’s nerves, right?”

It was a joke, for the most part, but Barba’s face fell at the words. “Yes, well…”

Fin could admit to himself that he found it a tad bit entertaining to watch Barba crash and burn almost daily in his interactions with Carisi, but even he felt bad for him after that one. Deciding that he couldn’t take anymore, he stood, slapping the file down on Carisi’s desk, causing both men to jump, their gazes jerking in his direction. “Arrest report.”

“Thank you, Sergeant Tutuola.” Barba’s tone was clipped as he snatched the file off the desk. “I have to get to court.” Spine straight, he strode quickly from the squad room.

“What’s his problem?” Carisi asked looking toward the door Barba had just exited through before turning back to Fin.

Fin, now back at his desk, just shook his head. “You’re both idiots.”

“Me? What did I do?”

“Ya know, for a detective you aren’t very observant.”

Carisi was both offended and confused by this, his forehead creasing as he looked over at Fin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m -”

“Exactly,” Fin said, cutting him off and refusing to say anymore. He refocused his attention on his work, having already devoted way too much time on the personal lives of his coworkers, while Carisi continued to mumble about his exceptional observational skills.

 

**4.**

 

The sight of Barba lingering at Carisi’s desk was so familiar that Fin almost didn’t even glance up a second time when he saw Barba heading in that direction. But then he noticed that Barba was standing there, looking lost, some kind of sandwich in hand. “Can I help you?” Fin asked mildly.

Barba turned and stared at him, looking a bit like a deer caught in the headlights. “Oh,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “Uh. No. I was just…” He trailed off. “I was looking for Det. Carisi.”

“He and Rollins got called in to talk to a victim,” Fin said helpfully.

Barba wilted. “Oh,” he said, and seemed about to elaborate when Liv poked her head out of her office, frowning at Barba.

“Rafael?” she asked, sounding surprised. “Did you need something?”

Barba instantly straightened. “Yes,” he said, heading towards her office. “I needed to touch base on the Bell case.”

Fin just shook his head as he turned back to the paperwork he was trying to catch up on. “Typical,” he muttered, but endeavored to put all thought of Barba and his complete failure at flirting from his mind.

But when Barba emerged from Liv’s office, it was sans sandwich, and Fin couldn’t help but watch as Barba paused awkwardly by Carisi’s still vacant desk. “Did you eat the sandwich you meant to leave for Carisi?” Fin asked mildly.

Barba blushed an apoplectic shade of fuschia. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered.

He stalked toward the break room and returned a few moments later with a handful of crap he had clearly purchased from the vending machine, and proceeded to unceremoniously dump it on Carisi’s desk. Fin looked from the pitiful pile, picking out a bag of pretzels, a Twix, and a pack of gum, to Barba, who didn’t bother acknowledging the look of pure amusement on Fin’s face before he wordlessly left the precinct.

For one vivid moment, Fin was reminded of the cat that used to live in his apartment building and would leave dead mice in front of people’s doors as a sign of affection, and he sighed heavily and shook his head. For not the first time that day, he wished he worked with more emotionally competent people.

When Carisi returned to the precinct, he was scowling and clearly in a sour mood, but he took one look at the heap of vending machine goodies on his desk and instantly brightened. “Snacks!” he said excitedly, sitting down at his desk and tucking in without even asking who left them. Fin was again reminded of an animal — this time, a particularly friendly dog, though Carisi had stopped seeming like a puppy dog after his first six months at SVU.

Fin shook his head and debated silently for a moment before deciding to take mercy on both of them, and he pulled out his phone and texted Barba a single word: _Rolos_.

Barba texted back only a moment later. _I beg your pardon, Sergeant?_

_Carisi likes Rolos._

Fin didn’t say anything else, but he figured it’s enough for a hint for the next time Barba panicked and left Carisi candy.

He vastly underestimated Barba’s dedication.

And apparently the amount of time on his hands.

Instead, one day about a month later, he and Carisi got back from visiting a crime scene, and while Fin collapsed into his chair, Carisi bounced energetically on the balls of his feet. “I’m gonna get a candy bar,” he told Fin, gesturing towards the break room, and Fin was tempted to tell him not to load up on the sugar. “You want anything?”

Fin shook his head wordlessly and Carisi disappeared into the breakroom. Fin took his absence as a moment to close his eyes and lean back in his chair, though his eyes flew open a moment later when Carisi whooped loudly. He emerged from the breakroom, beaming. “Rolos!” he exclaimed, the candy in question clenched in his fist. “They stocked the vending machine with Rolos!”

Almost despite himself, Fin grinned, and he slowly shook his head. “Clearly you have a friend at the distribution plant,” he said.

Carisi laughed and sat down at his desk, though he paused halfway through unwrapping the Rolos and paused to give Fin a strange look. “Did you, uh, did you have something to do with this?”

Fin just raised an eyebrow at him. “You think I had the time on my hands to make sure that the vending machine company stocked _your_ favorite candy, and no Jujubees for me?” he asked. “You’re outta your damn mind.”

Carisi laughed and went back to eating his candy without another question, but Fin sat back in his seat, his expression turning contemplative. It really must’ve taken time, he thought. Someone had to have called the vending machine distribution company and set it up so that they’d stock Rolos the next time they refilled the vending machine. And Fin couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of research had gone into figuring out all the different companies to call to make that happen.

Fin chuckled lightly and shook his head.

Barba might have no game, but no one could accuse him of not having style. Or, as grudgingly as Fin might admit it, his heart in the right place.

 

**5.**

 

When Rollins suggested they go out that night, Fin was expecting to drink beer and play darts, not get ditched by Rollins and watch two drunk idiots flirt. He wasn’t really even expecting to be out with Barba period, but the guy seemed to have invited himself. Or Carisi invited him but that all rolls together to the same difference.

Playing darts was still a possibility, he guessed, but kicking Barba’s ass in something sounded like it’d turn lethal and Fin didn’t want to really interrupt whatever weird legal conversation was happening on the other side of the table. Fin internally swore to make Rollins buy next time they were there when Carisi let out a loud laugh on the other side of the table and started mentally planning his ‘leave Barba and Carisi the fuck alone’ strategy and wondered if that could maybe involve the lady who kept looking over at him from the end of the bar. Or if it would involve darts. He was only a little drunk and really wanted to play darts.

Fin was glad, mostly for his own sanity, that this was finally happening.

Carisi and Barba sat just about two inches apart from each other, leaning even further in like they didn’t even notice he was there, which normally he’d be mildly annoyed about, but, in that moment, he couldn’t really begin to care. Rafael Barba’s flirting was sad to watch and the only way it will get better, Fin had decided some two goddamn years ago, was to get his guy.

Which it looked like he was in the process of doing and Fin really didn’t want to get in the way of him doing it, even if Fin was pretty certain they didn’t realize he was still at the bar.

Which was why standing up and going over to the bar seemed like a pretty safe option. Less likely to get in the way of whatever was going on on the other side of the table. Barba muttered something about Buchanan that Fin didn’t entirely catch and Carisi snorted out laughter, at which point Fin figured it was about time to leave them to it.  

Fin stood up and Carisi lifted his head away from Barba, staring at Fin with drunk, hazy eyes. Barba hadn’t detached his eyes from where they were staring at Carisi’s hand. “Fin. You leavin’. R’dy?” Fin was pretty sure that was supposed to be ‘already’ but he wouldn’t put money on it.

“Nah. Just headin’ to the bar.”

Barba decided to acknowledge his existence for what has got to be the first time all night. “Scotch?” And wow, Barba was considerably more drunk than Fin had thought he was.

“Think you’ve had enough.” Fin made it a joke but Barba’s eyes were hard and defensive as he detached himself from Carisi, standing up.

“Get it myself then.” Fin was glad he didn’t say more than that because he really didn’t want to argue with drunk Barba. He turned quickly to Carisi. “And you want?”

Carisi smiled, clearly flattered at being asked and all Fin could think was that this was final proof that Barba was very drunk because his smile was almost dopey when he asked. “Beer’s fine,” Carisi told him.

Barba wandered off to the bar and Fin, under the certain knowledge that Barba will not get him alcohol, went off to get some himself.

It took a bit for Fin to wave down the bartender, but he was better at it than Barba who seemed to have gotten distracted by his own shoes. Fin had downed a quarter of his drink before he glanced back at the table and saw the woman from the end of the bar chatting up Carisi.

Fin took a quick moment of silence for his wounded ego before focusing his attention on Barba who was just staring, scotch in one hand, beer in another. Carisi was talking very politely, very distantly and while Fin could see that clear as day, Barba probably had a different perspective.

Barba’s face wasn’t jealous or angry or sad; there wasn’t any emotion at all. Fin wondered for a brief moment if that type of blankness came naturally or if Barba trained himself into that.

Fin watched from the bar as Barba returned to the table, snippy, curt words directed toward Carisi, low words in a short, icy tone directed toward the poor woman from the bar. Fin watched Carisi lean away from Barba, the woman retreating, Carisi excusing himself from the table, from the bar without even a word to Fin.

Fin didn’t watch Barba down scotch alone. Even he had limits.

 

 **+1.**  

 

Fin wasn’t supposed to be here.  

He was supposed to be having dinner with Ken and his granddaughter but here he was, tossing another perp into the Tombs and settling in for another long night.  The text had already been sent, his son had already gamely forgiven him, and the night was his.  He marveled now at how disappointing a night alone with his video games sounded, which is what he would be going home to after this rather than a meal with his family.  

The Fin Tutuola of ten years ago would have balked at the idea of preferring a dinner with the expectation of conversation to precious solitude.  Hell, even five years ago.  Now?  Now it worked for him.

Which made his bitterness all the more palpable as he told his perp to sit still while he found himself an empty room to grill the guy.  The string bean was supposed to be around here somewhere but Carisi was nowhere to be found, probably in the process of mooning over the ADA currently setting up to watch Fin’s interview.  Which was good for him but damn it, Fin needed to get the hell out of there.  It was already going on seven o’clock.

Maybe if he could make the guy cave early he’d get there in time for dessert…

Distracted by thoughts of Ken’s warm apartment and his son-in-law’s coconut cream pie, Fin wandered past interrogation and almost didn’t see anything.   It was fate - or truly unfortunate timing - that he happened to glance at the two way mirror, and then did a rapid double take.  Barba and Carisi were in the room he was planning to use.  Barba had his back against the wall, caged by Carisi's arms on either side.  The ADA looked flushed and startled, but Carisi was smirking.  
  
"Aw, come on, man," he groaned, but the two men on the other side of the glass couldn't hear him.  Before he had a chance to look away, Carisi dipped his head to kiss Barba, whose hand was now threaded through Carisi's hair.  
  
It seemed Fin was cursed to see this thing through from beginning to end.

He considered walking away - _strongly_ considered walking away - but the reality was that he needed the interrogation room.  All the others were filled, and this was a police station, not a singles bar.  
  
He scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to look anywhere but directly at them while he waited for the moment to pass, until it rapidly became clear that it was going in an entirely different direction.  Carisi moved forward, pressing himself up against Barba, and the shorter man wrapped an arm around him.  Their mouths were open and -  
  
Yeah, no, this wasn't happening.  
  
Fin coughed, loudly and deliberately, as he pushed open the door and stepped inside.  
  
"Come on guys," he deadpanned.  "I know we've all been waiting for you to get a room, but this wasn't exactly the one we had in mind."

Carisi scrambled backward so quickly that Fin thought he would fall, and Barba flushed a violent, mottled red.  Carisi looked rapidly between Barba and Fin, who didn't bother to hide his laughter.  
  
"I mean it, it really is about time."  
  
"I - I'm sure I don't know -" Barba sputtered, picking up his briefcase from where it had fallen on the floor.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Carisi said, confused and embarrassed.  
  
"Don't feel too bad about it, kid, he wasn't making it easy on you." Fin looked to Barba.  "Seriously man, how does such a slick, fancy lawyer like you have so much game in the courtroom and no damn game in your personal life?"

"Ex _cuse_ me?" Barba said, as Carisi made a simultaneous noise of confusion.    
  
"He's been trying to make moves on you since you first showed up, Carisi." Fin looked at Barba, still grinning.  "Just not very good ones.  Ask somebody for advice next time and it won't take you three years before you pull it off."  
  
Barba had no reply, for once, though the flush across his face only deepened.  
  
"But, he didn't," Carisi said, still confused.  "I came onto him.  He didn't say anything."  
  
Fin blinked and looked back to Barba.  "Seriously, Counselor?  That's just sad."

Barba's scowl was carved deep across his face, though Fin suspected that Carisi would be able to chase it away.  Not that he wanted to spend much time thinking about how.  
  
"Come on you guys, I need the room.  Why don't you two go... hell, anywhere else to finish this, come on.  People are trying to work in here."  
  
Barba snatched up his coat from where it was folded over the back of a chair and stalked out past Fin, who was still grinning.  Carisi followed like the overeager kid he was whenever Barba was involved.

He stopped and gave Fin an apologetic sort of smile.  "Thanks, Sarge."  
  
"Man, just go," Fin ordered but it was lightened with his attempts to keep from laughing, and he watched as Carisi disappeared down the hall.  
  
"That is just embarrassing," he said to no one in particular, before shaking his head and beginning to prepare the room for his interrogation.  If he played his cards right, he'd be out of here by nine, and have the whole night ahead of him with no thoughts of Barba or Carisi to distract him for the first time in years.


End file.
